Philadelphia’s Chinatown community celebrates highway cap project despite funding uncertainty

The Philadelphia highway capping project known as the Chinatown Stitch was celebrated by the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation at a community event Thursday evening that showcased its progress and potential economic impact. 

The Chinatown Stitch, which will create a two-and-a-half-block street-level park over I-676, is seen as a huge win for a neighborhood that’s been divided by the highway’s construction and has endured repeated, unpopular development attempts near Center City. 

“It’s all about reconnection,” John Chin, executive director of the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation, told City & State. “Chinatown’s been cut in half (for) decades.”

The original $207 million project had nearly all of its federal funding rescinded last year. Preliminary funding had already been allocated for the planning process and final construction documents, but the construction cost – in the range of $150 million according to officials – is standing in the way of organizers getting the project across the finish line. 

But for the Chinatown community – and organizers who have helped get the preliminary phase off the ground – the funding uncertainty is just another hurdle they will work through.

“Back in 2016, it was an ‘If’ question, but we got some significant federal resources,” Chin told City & State. Now, he added, “it’s really ‘When.’”

PCDC – a key entity in the highway cap project – held a celebration Thursday evening to commemorate the progress and highlight the plaza’s market stall designs. 

“Tonight, we celebrate our collective work to bring this once-in-a-lifetime project to this point,” Chin said at the event. “As far as the stitch design, we’re near the finish line.” 

The highway cap project would not only reconnect parts of Chinatown that were divided by the Vine Street Expressway construction in 1991, but also reduce the air and noise pollution that come from the more than 100,000 vehicles that use the I-676 expressway every day. 

PCDC and community members worked with the city and state, and received two grants together worth over $160 million in 2022 and 2024 to construct the cap and street-level park. 

But after the federal funding was pulled, local leaders had to scramble – looking to the city and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission to step up. Both parties did their part, with DVRPC allocating $10 million and the city matching $2.5 million – the figure needed to fund the rest of the design process and final construction documents, which could take six months to a year. 

Chin and officials expect a combination of public and philanthropic sources, such as federal, state or foundation grants, to bridge the gap left by the federal funding rescission. 

“The designs reflect your desires. You have said that you want a gathering space, celebration space and just a place to be with others,” Chin said. 

The latest design for the capped park between 10th and 12th streets includes landscaped pathways, a playground, plaza and shaded pavilion, and a stream. The market stalls shown Thursday are the first pilot for the project – and a clear sign to the community that it’s moving forward. 

Kara Medow, the Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems’ new senior capital projects manager, said that partnerships and community engagement are “all critical to the success of the Chinatown Stitch project.”

“These market stalls … show the project’s potential and offer a preview of the new community spaces the stitch will bring,” Medow said Thursday. “Together, we can reunite Chinatown and give this community a beautiful green space it has long deserved.”